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Archive for July, 2013

This entire posting is composed of 3 parts:
(1) Posting: When We Should Compromise;
(2) Concluding Quote: Who Propagated This Defective Philosophy?;
(3) Prabhat Samgiita #1420;

Each section is demarcated by asterisks (***).

== WHEN WE SHOULD COMPROMISE ==

Namaskar,
Here following are some very unique examples from Baba’s own life where He refused to compromise on points of ideology. We are to apply these same measures in our organizational / ideological life.

BABA’S EXAMPLE:

I WILL NOT FORGO PROUT

When Baba was in jail then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent a representative to convey the following message to Baba.

On behalf of Mrs. Gandhi, the messenger said, “The Government of India & Ananda Marga can peacefully coexist, so long as there is no Prout. If You drop Prout from Your agenda everything will be fine.”

This was the essence of the message from Mrs Gandhi’s camp: For Baba to forgo His Prout philosophy.

In reply, Revered Baba told, “My ideology is more important than my life. I prefer to remain in jail than compromise on My ideology.”

By Baba’s divine example, we are to understand that standing up for our ideological principles is the greatest endeavour in life. This is very evident by the fact that Baba refused to compromise by giving up His Prout philosophy.

Verily, in innumerable places and in countless ways, Baba guides us that we are never to sacrifice or compromise our Ananda Marga ideals.

Thus when certain Dadas have ruined margii rights, made a Fake Bhukti Pradhan manual, distorted Baba’s scripture, invented Fake Ananda Vaniis, created the dogma of mahaprayan, ruined the ACB system, and vicitimised and marginalised countless innocent margiis etc, then we must not compromise or make any deals with such persons. First those Wts must admit to their wrongdoing and sin, express repentance, and mend their ways.

Baba’s overarching directive is to hold firm to ideology – no matter what. We should follow His ideal.

BABA’S EXAMPLE:

I WILL NOT GIVE UP MY FAST

Another well-known incident occurred when Baba was in jail & undertaking His protest fast.

At that time, various political leaders of India came to Baba in a very respectful manner and pleaded with Him to stop His fast. Those political leaders expressed that (a) the long fast was having a very detrimental effect on His body, (b) it was difficult to maintain such a fast, and (c) that His life is very important. Those well-wishers reasoned and concluded that best will be for Baba to discontinue His fast. This was their well-intentioned plea.

But once again, on this very point Baba replied that His fast was for ideological reasons – not for the wellness of His physical existence. For that reason, He must continue the fast.

Baba’s response and action again shows that following His ideological principles is first and foremost in life. On no account should an Ananda Margii ever compromise on Ananda Marga teachings or philosophy.

Hence, when certain Dadas have indulged in Bangalisation, invented dogmatic tiirthas, used expulsion as a weapon, and attacked those who followed silent action etc, we must hold them accountable for contravening Baba’s guidelines. They must accept their misdeeds, beg apology, and correct their wrongdoing etc. There is no other way.

BABA’S EXAMPLE:

DO NOT COMPROMISE WITH THOSE WHO GO AGAINST ISTA

Here is yet another example for us all to consider.

In 1970, when the defectors like Madhavananda, Vishokananda, and Prakashananda, went against Ista – betrayed Guru, then some simple people, who had sentimental friendships with those defectors, wanted to keep everyone together. Those simple sadhakas requested Baba to allow those defectors to remain in the organisation even though they blatantly contravened the very foundational tenets of Ananda Marga. In their naïveté, those simple people wanted to overlook the ideological blunders of those defectors – and have everyone co-exist once again. This is what they asked from Baba.

However, we all know that Baba took a very firm stand – an ideological stand – on this issue, and the rest is history. Baba did not wish to send messengers to those defectors and compromise with their adharmic demands and console them. Instead, on their own accord, those defectors strayed far, far away and never returned. And our Ananda Marga rose to the height of glory. And those who were tricked by such defectors and joined them initially, then Baba openly welcomed them back. While those who deliberately joined those defectors had to face punishment before being allowed back into Ananda Marga.

Here then again, Baba demonstrates through His own Personal example that when it comes to ideology, there must not be any compromise. Rather one is to stand tall on all ideological matters.

Thus in the present day situation, how can we forgive those who have altered Baba’s teachings, and done so many heinous crimes which go against Ananda Marga ideology. How can we simply forgive and excuse such people. We cannot – not until they have purged themselves of such sin and wholly mended their ways.

In so many teachings Baba has guided us to never compromise on ideological matters – never.

“Fight for your Ideology. Be one with your Ideology. Live for your Ideology. Die for your Ideology.” (1)

“Where the question of benevolence and malevolence is concerned we will not deviate an inch from our ideology.” (2)

“Life represents Ideology. Life should be sacrificed for Ideology.” (3)

BABA’S DIVINE DISCOURSE:

DO NOT MADE A PACT WITH SINNERS

So by His own example and in His teachings, Baba guides us to always live by the high ideals of Ananda Marga – never compromise.

This following passage from Baba’s discourse leads in this same direction. This below paragraph has been paraphrased from AV-26 (H) pg 34. It is based on the original Hindi and if anyone has this book and can post the original Hindi section, then that will be very helpful.

Here then is the essence of Baba’s message from that portion of His discourse where Baba is pointedly explaining that there must not be any pact made with those who are opposed to our principles.

“Remember one can have a temporary cease-fire with the black forces, but there cannot be a pact…do you know what is cease-fire? For example, two battling parties may decide that there will not be any fighting at night, and that the fighting will resume in morning. So in a temporary cease-fire the fight has not been stopped permanently; it will continue after a short period of pause. So this is what is known as a temporary cease-fire. In contrast, what is a pact? When a pact is made then a compromise of values is done and each side accepts certain conditions and sacrifices their own ideological platform…Remember, at any cost there will never be a pact with the black forces, i.e. the negative forces. Only there can be a ceasefire from time to time. And that cease-fire will be done with the sole intention to increase your own strength. For example, suppose you are alone and the dark forces surrounding you are ten in number. Then for the time being one can make a cease fire with those black forces; but, then tomorrow you will have to collect 20 fighters to join your cause and then start your offensive against those black forces. That is the use of a temporary cease-fire. Virtuous people must remember, that one can never make a pact with the sinful forces.” (4)

Hence in clear-cut language in His above teaching, Baba directs us that we must never sacrifice our ideals by making a pact with sinful agents – those who go against the welfare of humanity. On this point, Baba maintains that we must live by and fight for our ideals, i.e. Ananda Marga ideology.

In the practical sphere, our Ananda Marga has never made a pact with or bowed down to communists, capitalists, or any type of crooked leadership etc. No matter what the circumstances, always we are to abide by our Ananda Marga ideals. That is Baba’s directive and that is what sincere margiis do.

DO NOT MAKE PACT WITH ANY GROUP

From time to time, a few persons cry out that we should sacrifice Ananda Marga values and ideological principles in order to “keep everyone together” – just like in a crowd where everyone is physically together but has their own separate agenda. That is to say, some confused persons sometimes beg that we should overlook ideological wrongdoings like scriptural distortions and BP rights, and come in the shelter of one particular group or bring all the groups under one roof. This is their unholy approach. Because they are demanding that we forgo our ideological principles for the sake of some type of group pact etc. Yet, Baba never wants us to do such mistakes: Under no conditions are we to compromise on the point ideology.

If really we are to make a pact with unideological group leaders, then Baba would have invited all kinds of communists, capitalists, and dogmatic religious fanatics to bring their dogma into Ananda Marga. But Baba did not do like this. Rather, it was demanded that such persons must first leave their dogma and then enter the house of Ananda Marga – not vice versa.

Because for Baba, ideology is supreme and He wants that we also follow this way of life: Never compromising on ideology.

That means not compromising with those who have ruined margii rights, invented the weapon of expulsion, victimised innocent margiis, and distorted Baba’s scripture. Until such factional heads change their ways, we cannot forgive such persons and forget their sinful deeds. That is Baba’s decree.

IF ANYONE COMPROMISES ON POINTS OF IDEOLOGY

THEY ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE

If any person does not understand the fact that ideology is everything in life, then such a person is really just a baby in Ananda Marga – regardless of their worldly age. If such persons want to make a pact with unideological people, then they themselves are playing with fire as they are going against Baba’s fundamental principle of no compromise on points of ideology. As soon as possible those persons should study Baba’s guidelines and do long sadhana. That is what they need. That is their medicine. Then they will be alright, by His grace.

TWO DISTINCT WARNINGS

#1: If anyone is supporting any group or faction then they themselves are going against Ananda Marga ideology because supporting groupism is against the principles of neo-humanism.

#2: During times of trial, it is very difficult to come onto the right path. Due to allegiance with friends and family or personal interest etc, people go astray. They fail to link up with ideology.

BABA’S TEACHINGS

Ista and Adarsha are the most important things in life. And that is what our svastika flag represents. And that is our victory in life – not the victory of dogma.

ALWAYS STICK TO IDEOLOGY, DO NOT BE SWAYED

“We should always respect our ideology if we are to become true human beings. The ideologist is a man who always acts according to his ideology. If by following the ideology, the older people become unhappy or condemn me, I will not care. If by following an ideology I die and die again, let it be. I will not care. I will stick to my ideology.” (5)

BE READY TO FACE ALL DIFFICULTIES FOR THE SAKE OF IDEOLOGY

“Let those well-versed in ethics criticize me or praise me, as they so desire; let Lakśmii, the goddess of wealth, either be gracious enough (because of my activities) to reside in my house, or, if she prefers, go elsewhere; let death visit me today or decades later. It makes little difference to me. Wise people will never withdraw from the path of ideology, the path which they accept as their ideal.” (6)

“What am I going to do regarding the mission of life? If logicians and philosophers condemn me, saying, “That is a very bad man,” let them say this. Or if, due to my movement towards my goal, a certain portion of society appreciates my action, let them appreciate it – it won’t affect me. I won’t be assailed by such appreciations. And if, due to my action, Lakśmii (Lakśmii is the mythological goddess of riches) comes and resides in my house, it is good. If Lakśmii says, “No, I will quit you forever, I won’t remain with you.” that is, you will have to suffer from poverty, let Lakśmii quit my house: And if, due to my course of action, due to my ideology, Pluto, that is, the god of death, comes and says, “I’ll take you,” let Pluto do it! I don’t care! Or if, due to my course of action, due to my ideology, I am forced to live here for an indefinite period, I am ready to live here. You know life becomes boring if one lives for a long period, but I am ready to undergo that boredom, that monotony, for the sake of my ideology.” (7)

BE DHIIRA – STICK TO IDEOLOGY

“The shástras say that a person must stick to his ideals irrespective of whether he receives praise or abuse, whether wealth comes or wealth goes, whether he lives a thousand years or suffers death the next moment. Such a person is called “dhiira”. My direction to you is to be Dhiira. You must stick to your ideals in spite to everything. In this lies your spiritual growth.” (8)

DO NOT BE SWAYED BY PRAISE OR ABUSE

“If I am too concerned with those who praise or censure me, I will not find time to do my real work. As I have come to this world only for a short period, my only concern should be to keep on doing the duty the Lord has assigned to me. And while doing this allotted duty, I should remember that I belong to Parama Puruśa. I have come from Him, and I will have to return to Him – and to do that, I must complete my allotted duty.” (9)

IT IS BETTER TO DIE UPHOLDING DHARMA

“Even if the practice of Bhágavata dharma brings pain and sorrow and the practice of paradharma (that is to say, the dharma of animals and plants) brings pleasure, humans will have to stick firmly to their svadharma, their mánava dharma. Humans should never allow themselves to descend to paradharma, the dharma of birds and beasts, of trees and plants. On no account should animal dharma be encouraged. The flag of mánava dharma must always be held high under all circumstances. This is exactly what Shrii Krśńa means when He says: Svadharme nidhanam’ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah – “It would be better to die upholding human dharma, upholding the ideal of humanity; one should never allow oneself to fall back into a state of animality.” (10)

NEVER COMPROMISE WITH SIN OR VICE

“The person will welcome that death rather than compromise with sin and vice. Therefore keep in mind that those who are genuine devotees, sádhakas of high order, loved by Parama Puruśa and closely bound to Parama Puruśa in love and affection, will never compromise with sin and vice. They will cling to their ideal totally, throughout their lives.” (11)

HOLD THE FLAG OF IDEOLOGY UPRIGHT

“O’ human beings, be established in the radiance of divinity and the splendour of valour and chivalry, because yours is the path of revolution. Your path is not the path of extra caution and scheduled movement. You are the traveller of a rugged path. You are travellers of an impregnable path. You have to march ahead proudly with the flag of Marga upright. You have no time to stagger or to look behind.” (12)

SUMMARY STATEMENT

The overall guideline is that we are to hold firm to the ideological fundamental of Ananda Marga irrespective of any worldly situation. Whether we are praised, whether our friends try to lure us away, regardless of any circumstance we are to remain with ideology and never compromise. Thus in our organisational life we must take a firm stand against those who have undermined and contravened the ideological principles of Ananda Marga. We must not compromise with such Dadas etc in any way. Rather they must take responsibility for their wrongdoing, express repentance, and rectify themselves. There is no other option.

Namaskar,
Sastaunga Pranam to Baba,
Bhavanath

Note: MORE ABOUT MARGII RIGHTS

For a comprehensive listing of margii rights and common ideological points that have been compromised and violated in our Ananda Marga, please read this letter. (Note: After clicking sure to scroll down to the actual post)

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Who Propagated This Defective Philosophy?

“At one time people were told that this world is for human enjoyment only, so the existence of all the plants, of all the birds and animals, in the world is intended merely to provide objects of enjoyment for human beings. Their hopes and aspirations, their intense desire to live, their pains and pleasures, their affectionate family or community lives are simply without value. However much a baby goat may wish to live, the main consideration is how much meat that kid carries on its frame. This defective philosophy has made people ruthlessly violent – even more dangerous than blood-thirsty tigers. Tigers kill only to fill their stomachs, to preserve their physical existence; whereas human beings kill animals mostly out of greed. Generally people have resorted to hypocrisy to camouflage this instinct of greed; they have killed animals on the pretext of pleasing the gods, while actually their main motive in doing so was to please their own tongues. These are all the inevitable results of such defective philosophies.” (Namah Shiváya Shántáya, Disc: 14)

If you do not know who propagates this defective philosophy then click here for the answer.
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PRABHAT SAMGIITA
~ PS #1420 ~

“A’mi toma’ya bha’lobesechi sare yete doba na’…” (PS 1420)

Purport:

O’ Parama Purusa, You have most graciously come to me after such a long time; now I will not let You go away. I love You. O’ my Dearmost, I want to serve You; I want to fall in love with You – because falling in love with You means attaining salvation, getting emancipation, becoming one with the greater ‘I’, and remaining in eternal bliss. I do not want to fall in love with others because that means undergoing bondage, crudification, pain, misery, and, ultimately, degeneration. O’ my Lord, I want to fall in love with You.

O’ Divine Entity, You are the Polestar of my life – my life revolves around You. You are the sweetest of the sweet. You are the evening star of my life – the nucleus of my existence. O’ Prabhu, You are the morning star of the early dawn. O’ my Dearmost, because of You I am alive, and up to eternity I will remain under Your shelter, by Your grace. Thinking, contemplating, and ideating on You is the highest form of sadhana.

O’ Parama Purusa Baba, You are the best of everything. You are the smile of the flowers in the crimson dawn. In the mild nights of sarat [1], You are the shepha’lii [2] flower. In the sweet breeze of the shepha’lii flower, I remain awake thinking about You. O’ my Dearmost, O’ Baba, You are manaska’mana: You are the only One who can satisfy all the longing of my heart and mind.

Baba, You are my everything, I love You…

NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA #1420:

[1] Sarat: This refers to the pre-winter Season. In tropical areas like India the pre-winter season is one of the best and most charming times of year. It is not hot and humid, nor is it chilly and cold. Rather in the pre-winter season, the climate is highly refreshing, very suitable, and, on the whole, quite delightful.

[2] Shepha’lii: The Night-flowering Jasmine (Nyctanthes arbortristis) is native to the Bengal region of India, where it is known as shepha’lii. The fragrant aroma of the night jasmine flower (shepha’lii) permeates each and every air molecule and makes the whole environment saturated and drenched it its sweetness.

This (see below) is done by the semitic religions. They do not think that an animal has a soul. There are other religions that may eat meat but they do not adhere to this philosophy. If you have any questions then please write.

“At one time people were told that this world is for human enjoyment only, so the existence of all the plants, of all the birds and animals, in the world is intended merely to provide objects of enjoyment for human beings. Their hopes and aspirations, their intense desire to live, their pains and pleasures, their affectionate family or community lives are simply without value. However much a baby goat may wish to live, the main consideration is how much meat that kid carries on its frame. This defective philosophy has made people ruthlessly violent – even more dangerous than blood-thirsty tigers. Tigers kill only to fill their stomachs, to preserve their physical existence; whereas human beings kill animals mostly out of greed. Generally people have resorted to hypocrisy to camouflage this instinct of greed; they have killed animals on the pretext of pleasing the gods, while actually their main motive in doing so was to please their own tongues. These are all the inevitable results of such defective philosophies.” (Namah Shiváya Shántáya, Disc: 14)

Namaskar,
Everyone has devotion – even many animals have devotion. As Ananda Margiis, it is our duty to help those harness their inherent devotion so they can channelise it towards the Supreme – not the mundane. Then they can verily enter onto the path of real devotion – bhakti.

THOSE ANIMALS THAT OBEY AND REVERE OTHERS

HAVE DEVOTION – I.E. SAMANYA BHAKTI

First we should examine how certain animals have devotion, or samanya bhakti. As we see, many animals have respect or awe for those they deem as being greater than themselves. One of the more common examples is a dog that obeys its master. That obedience itself is reverence or devotion for its master. Plus various farm animals view their farmer as their master; so they also have devotion. This type of devotion, however, is not limited to domesticated or farm animals: Camels and elephants – tamed & untamed – also have devotion. They hold in awe those large trees and big mountains because they reverse size and those mountains and trees are greater than themselves. And verily there are so many animals that have devotion – either towards other animals, towards humans, or towards nature.

In sum, whenever any animal feels a sense of awe towards any other entity, then that feeling of awe is devotion.

“When an individual’s psychic feelings get suspended at the sight of the greatness of an entity, then the individual attitude towards that great entity is devotion. Initially it is known as sámányá bhakti [natural devotion]. This sámánya bhakti is present even in many undeveloped creatures. Suppose you look upon the vast Himalayan range. When you gaze at the sky-kissing peaks, your mind becomes overwhelmed and you exclaim, “Oh, how vast are these mountains!” You develop a feeling of reverence for the Himalayas.” (1)

EVERY HUMAN ALSO HAS DEVOTION

BUT THEY OFTEN MISDIRECT IT

When various animals have devotion, then certainly every human being also has devotion.

“The fundamental psychology behind bhakti, which I once discussed at Anandanagar, is this: when a person looks upon the awesome greatness of any great entity, his or her own qualities become suspended. He or she develops a special attitude towards that great entity, and that attitude is known as devotion.” (2)

Invariably, all look upon someone in this world with awe and reverence. Teenagers scream and cheer when their favourite musician comes onto the stage. Sports fans applaud wildly for their sports heroes. Members of Congress gather round when Bill Gates or a Hollywood icon comes to testify or support a cause. Everyone in this world holds a sense of awe for someone or something else that they revere – and that is a form of devotion. But that devotion is misdirected. They do not understand their desire is actually for the Supreme. Devotion is one. Thus when a person longs for worldly things, it means their devotion has gone astray. And their inherent, infinite longing is never satiated by these finite worldly entities, i.e. by seeing that sports player, musician, or pop icon etc.

But in the general society, devotion takes expression in many other forms. People revere the wealthy, the famous, the talented etc. Whatever a person treasures, when they see that quality present in someone else to a higher degree, then they will revere that being. That is where their reverence lies. Tragically, their devotion is misdirected.

MORE ABOUT HOW THEIR INHERENT DEVOTION

GETS MISDIRECTED TO EXTERNAL WORLD

As Baba clearly states, all have devotion – even non-sadhakas. The only problem is that their devotion is misdirected.

Think of it this way. When a baby is hungry it tries to satiate its hunger but it does not know what to eat. The baby innocently reaches for paper, small stones, plastic, and so many other inedible objects. Yet none of those things will satiate its hunger.

Similarly, human beings have inherent devotion. They want to become great – but they do not know where to search. They do not know how to satisfy their infinite longing. Instead of meditating on the Divine, often their longing gets routed to the external sphere. In this way, they seek out and run after money, status, prestige, the opposite sex, and other things they revere or view in awe.

That is why such people are no different from the baby that is putting sticks and stones into its mouth. Just as the baby does not realise that it wants food so it instead reaches for plastic and stones, likewise people do not realise that they long for the Supreme, so instead they misdirect their longing towards mundane objects etc.

So yes, every human being has devotion, but it is misdirected as not all have awakened devotion for the Supreme.

BHAKTI AND DEVOTION ARE NOT THE SAME THING

In practical usage and meaning, there is a grand difference between the Sanskrit word bhakti and the English term devotion.

In English, devotion means being committed to a certain idea or person. For instance, a person is devoted to their spouse, or devoted to their country etc, but in Ananda Marga being committed to one’s country or career does is not called bhakti. But commitment to the mundane is termed as devotion in English. Some more examples include: devotion to one’s business, devotion to one’s children, devotion to one’s land or hobby or sport, devotion to one’s dog, devotion to drinking wine etc. One wealthy person I know is even has devotion for eating bugs etc. In all these ways devotion is used in English. But the term bhakti only means love for Parama Purusa, i.e. love for God.

In this letter, however, the term devotion has been used as a synonym of bhakti, but that is not the normal usage in materialistic societies.

Generally speaking though, to make matters clear, it is better to use the terms bhakti and bhakta. Only due to a distinct lack of a proper term in English do we sometimes use the words devotion and devotee.

In Ananda Marga, a bhakta is a devotee of God, not just a devotee.

BHAKTI IS SERVICE TO PARAMA PURUSA

In His famous, timeless sloka, Baba guides us about the uniqueness of the path of bhakti. And the first aspect of that teaching is as follows:

Bhakti bhagavato seva
Meaning: Devotion is service to God

So the inherent inner desire of the bhakta is to serve Parama Purusa – in all ways at all times. This is their inner-heart’s feeling: To serve & please Baba. To make Parama Purusa happy.

And Baba furthermore describes that to do that service one must be in His contact. Thus to serve Parama Purusa – to serve Baba – the bhakta must be in His closest proximity. Otherwise how will they be able to serve Him, please Him.

THE THREE WAYS TO SERVE PARAMA PURUSA:

PHYSICAL, PSYCHIC, AND SPIRITUAL

So bhaktas keep the closest link with Him all the time in order to serve Him, directly and indirectly. This service occurs on three basic levels.

While living in this world, devotees indirectly do seva to Parama Purusa by serving His creation through the four sevas – shudrocita seva (physical service), ksattriyocita seva (security or martial service) , vaeshyocita seva (economic service), and viprocita seva (spiritual service). Serving His creation in one of these four ways is physical service to Parama Purusa. That means viewing each and every expression as the manifestation of Supreme Consciousness and helping them according to their greatest need. That is physical service to Parama Purusa.

And in kiirtan, the bhakta lovingly sings the name of Parama Purusa and calls Him into their heart. This is serving Him in the mental sphere.

In dhya’na, the devotee channelizes all their love and all their desires unto His divine Self and by this way they are serving Baba in the spiritual realm.

In latter two above aspects, dhyana and kiirtan, the bhakta is rendering service to Parama Purusa directly.

Hence in all ways at all times, bhaktas are involved in serving the Lord– i.e. pleasing Baba.

ASAKTI VERUS BHAKTI

“When this attraction is for any non-integral entity, or for any small entity this is called káma. When that attraction is for that integral entity, and the integral entity is only one and that one is Parama Puruśa – it is called Prema. When the attraction is for the non-integral entity, for money, for family, for land, it is called Káma; when it is for integral entity it is called Prema and the mental tendency during Káma i.e., the mental tendency during attraction for a non-integral entity is called Ásakti in Samskrta and the mental tendency during attraction for that Integral Entity is called Bhakti. Do you follow?” (4)

“When the Esana is not for Paramatman but for something else, it is known as Asakti (Attachment) and not Bhakti. As for example, the Esana for wine. This Esana will be termed as Panasakti, the attachment for wine i.e. attachment is always in bad sense and devotion is always supreme. Therefore the correct Esana is devotion.” (5)

“When the unit self is associated with the cosmic it is called “bhakti” or “devotion”, but when it is associated with the mundane it is called “attachment”. You must withdraw your mental propensities from all external objects – no matter what they might be – and channelize them only towards Parama Puruśa. Only when you direct them towards Him, can it be called bhakti. If you allow your mind to become fascinated by any other object, it is called “ásakti” or “attachment”. When your only desire is for Iishvara, it is called “Iishvara-bhakti”, but when that attachment is for wine, for example, it is called ásakti for wine. An attachment for any object other than Parama Puruśa is called “ásakti”.” (6)

ANURAKTI IS REAL DEVOTION:

NOT MISDIRECTED LONGING FOR WORLDLY THINGS

“When one’s psychic attraction is toward the crude, the mind has a downward tendency, which leads to one’s eventual downfall. But when the mind moves upward it is called anurakti [attraction for the Great]. The consummation of this attraction is devotion.” (7)

“Anurakti is of two kinds. The anurakti for the Supreme Brahma or Infinite Cosmic Consciousness is para’nurakti. The anurakti for Brahma under the sway of prakrti or the anurakti for the crude manifestations is termed apara’nurakti. God is an object for para’nurakti. When the aspirant considers the Supreme Brahma to be his own, it is termed bhajana’ or bhakti.” (8)

ULTIMATELY REACH PARAMA PURUSA

Here following is Baba’s supreme guideline and blessing upon all Ananda Margiis.

“Devotion enables spiritual aspirants to attain the pinnacled goal of their lives. It is this devotion that human beings have been seeking since time immemorial. When they finally attain the Guru and get initiation, then they begin to walk on this path of devotion. And those who have started on this path realize that they are sure to reach their destination, that to reach their goal is the sole reason for their birth. You should remember why you have been born. Following the path of devotion, you will have to ultimately reach Parama Purus’a. This is the pinnacled point, the supreme point of human glory. You should always remember this, during your lifetime and even after your death.” (9)

SUMMARY

The overall message of this letter is that all have devotion – all human beings and even some animals. But their devotion is directed towards the limited – the mundane. That is why they are never satisfied. Their desire is never quenched. They never feel a sense of true and lasting satiation. Just their longing changes from one object to the next.

With true devotion, i.e. bhakti, where a sadhaka’s longing is pointed only towards the Supreme, then only can one feel His grace and feel satiation. Only that unlimited Supreme Entity can satisfy infinite human longing. All should come onto the path of bhakti – till that time their longing will never be satisfied.

We will serve all living beings; we will remove the afflictions and sufferings of all jiivas. If we will not save the hungry by providing food, and help the sick by providing medicine, and give love and care to the needy, then who will serve them. Those who are suffering from various diseases, physical or psychic, for them we are here. We are here to serve them and save them. We are all for those despondent human beings and suffering animals, birds, and plants. Plants, creepers and shrubs also have life force. Also for them we have to think. We have brought everyone close to the heart. We will not single out anyone; everyone belongs to our family. Parama Purusa has created this universe for all of us. This divine truth we have accepted with our mind, with our heart. We have come here to serve one and all. By this way we will serve Parama Purus’a….